Water is everywhere, in subject if not in reality, all over Colorado. We left Grand Junction via Interstate 70 for the first 17 miles of the run. The Colorado River ambled along to the left. The weather was Colorado glorious. Simon and Jason negotiated the interstate miles including a dark tunnel. Wineries and Palisades peach orchards abounded in the valleys just east of Grand Junction. Later bales of rolled hay were piled up between wooden stakes like mushroom caps or the order of tree stumps in a woodcut when it snows in the backcountry forests of British Columbia.

At the Debeque, Colorado exit we were met by an ABC newscaster out of Grand Junction. He filmed the exchange between Jason and Laura and then interviewed myself and Simon. He is spreading the word to all of his ABC affiliates. This newscaster was terrifc in that he asked incredibly incisive questions about the cause, how we are doing it and the expectations we have about making an impact. His focus was the global cause, not just the logistics of the run.

Temperatures were in the 90's with no breeze. Laura and I ran in a desertlike area between the mountains with no shade. I ran through the old oil town of Parachute and finished just before Rifle. Oil rigs appeared along the way as we paralleled I-70. My run was frontage road with little traffic. It was burning, stinging hot amidst the desert scrub and surrounded by walls of cliffs. I missed a turn and ran a bit out of my way before the pilot van got me back on course. Between miles 7-8 a cloud cover moved in with a kicked up tailwind and I hoped for a rain shower but it never materialized. Still it was a welcome reprieve from the scorching heat, particularly the radiating roadway. The dirt shoulders were the place to run when they were wide enough. Our technical director Dill was our savior and guardian angel, riding just ahead on a small motorcycle, checking in every mile or so to offer water and good cheer.

Our miles on the run include many obstacles not evident to non-runners. For instance, today I encountered alot of loose barb wire from old fences along the shoulders. This reminded me of my night run through the Gobi when I became entangled in some coils of barbed wire left in the desert, or blown from some of the sand fencing. Other obstacles include potholes, uneven and rocky terrain that can easily turn an ankle, guardrail posts bent forward to form skewer-like weapons, and snakes. Today I veered into the roadway away from a coiled snake which looked exactly like a rattler except for some blue patches on its pelt. Any one out there have an idea as to what it was?

After our shift we turned away from I-70 at Glenwood springs and headed to Aspen. Our route to Leadville took us past Mt. Sopris, the Maroon Bells, over Independence Pass, through Twin Lakes and past Turquoise Lake into Leadville. Team Silver would be running this section in the night to meet up with us the next morning. This is a part of the world I know very well having run the Leadvillle 100 a few times. I also spent a summer back in the 70's on a ranch in Somerset, Colorado, just on the other side of the Maroon Bells. It was a detour from my trip across country before travelling up Route 1 in California. I spent that time hiking and helping a friend repair rock bridges and washouts as well as maintain a small airfield on a rich man's ranch. This owner spent little time there, mostly would fly in on weekends or holidays with friends and family. He would have someone drop supplies by private plane weekly whether he came out to the ranch or not. My friend was a chef so in addition to his primary duties as a general caretaker, he would cook up incredible four or five star meals when the owner was there, with all the courses and appropriate beverages and I would be invited as a guest. Also that summer a guy from Texas named D.T. Walker drove up and parked his small beat up RV just inside the ranch gate and did some odds and ends chores around the ranch. We would join him at his campfire some nights and he would whip up the best campfire side tortillas or corn bread I have to this day ever tasted. I tried his recipes but it has never worked for me. Part of his secret was the altitude and certainly the ingredients he brought from his home crops. His other claim to fame was his fresh, sun-dried apricots. The fresh apricots were also brought from his home. He would dry them by the trays in the sun. I looked for every reason to get a handful from him. Usually all I had to do was show up for a cup of coffee and a fireside chat, meaning an open and patient ear for his long-winded tales.

As it so happened, I had some corn bread in Moab that came close to D.T.'s and evoked alot of fine memories of those times. Today was memory lane all the way to Leadville.

The 2007 Leadville 100 takes place the Saturday after we run through. Leadville just had its annual mountain bike race. Floyd Landis of Tour de France fame competed, the purported 2006 winner stripped of his badge by the blood doping scandal. He continues to deny the charges. He finished second in the Leadville Bike Race after a crash which put him two minutes back. The town is now full of ultrarunners preparing to run the 100 mile event which includes two climbs over Hope Pass. Altitude is the biggest factor that separates the men from the boys, the women from the girls. Secondly is the erratic mountain weather which can change from a hot day to a snowy night, from dry to flooded river crossings. The rivers in the Leadville area are running high for this time of year and the thunder storms have been raging just about every afternoon.

Water is life. Pass it on!